WHAT IS MARKETING?
Marketing is defined as the process of determining the needs and wants of consumers and being able to deliver products that satisfy those needs and wants. Marketing includes all of the activities necessary to move a product from the producer to the consumer. Think of marketing as a bridge from the producer to the consumer. Marketing starts with market research, a learning process in which marketers get to know everything they can about the needs and wants of consumers, and it ends when somebody buys something. Many companies feel that services provided to customers after the purchase also are an important part of marketing. All of these enterprises -- production, advertising, transportation, processing, packaging, and selling -- are included in the marketing process.
THE NINE FUNCTIONS OF MARKETING
In order for the marketing bridge to work correctly -- providing consumers with opportunities to purchase the products and services they need -- the marketing process must accomplish nine important functions. The functions are: Buying - people have the the opportunity to buy products that they want. Selling - producers function within a free market to sell products to consumers. Financing - banks and other financial institutions provide money for the production and marketing of products. Storage - products must be stored and protect ed until they are needed. This function is especially important for perishable products such as fruits and vegetables. Transportation -products must be physically relocated to the locations where consumers can buy them. This is a very important function. Transportation includes rail road, ship, airplane, truck, and telecommunications for non-tangible products such as market information. Processing - processing involves turning a raw product, like wheat, into something theconsumer can use -- for example, bread. Page 14 Risk-Taking - insurance companies provide coverage to protect producers and marketers from loss due to fire, theft, or natural disasters. Market Information - information from around the world about market conditions, weather, price movements, and political changes, can affect the marketing process. Market information is provided by all forms of telecommunication, such as television, the internet, and phone. Grading and Standardizing - Many products are graded in order to conform to previously determined standards of quality. For example, when you purchase US No. 1 Potatoes, you know you are buying the best potatoes on the market.
THE MARKETING CONCEPT
The marketing concept holds that the key to achieving organizational goals consists in determining the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions 240 more effectively and efficiently than competitors1. Under marketing concept, the emphasis is on selling satisfaction and not merely on the selling a product. The objective of marketing is not the maximization of profitable sales volume, but profits through the satisfaction of customers. The consumer is the pivot point and all marketing activities operate around this central point. It is, therefore, essential that the entrepreneurs identify the customers, establish a rapport with them, identify their needs and deliver the goods and services that would meet their requirements. The components of marketing concept are as under: a. Satisfaction of Customers: In the modern era, the customer is the focus of the organization. The organization should aim at producing those goods and services, which will lead to satisfaction of customers. b. Integrated marketing: The functions of production, finance and marketing should be integrated to satisfy the needs and expectations of customers. c. Profitable sales volume: Marketing is successful only when it is capable of maximizing profitable sales and achieves long-run customer satisfaction.
What is the macro marketing environment? The macro marketing environment takes into account all factors that can influence an organisation, but are outside of their control. There are six major macro marketing environment forces to deal with (PESTLE): political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, legal and environmental. The political environment includes all laws, government agencies and lobbying groups that influence or restrict individuals or organisations. The economic environment consists of all factors-such as salary levels, credit trends and pricing patterns that affect consumer spending habits and purchasing power. The socio-cultural environment includes institutions and other forces that affect the basic values, behaviours, and preferences of the society-all of which have an effect on consumer marketing decisions. The technological environment consists of those forces that affect the technology with which can create new products, new markets and new marketing opportunities.
The legal environment also affects an organisation even though a company cannot directly influence any laws lobbying or becoming part of a trade organisation is widely accepted in helping to shape particular legal decisions. Marketing environments are continuously changing and businesses operating in such turbulent environments need to be flexible. Globalisation and lower barriers to entry now mean that there is an even greater threat of substitute products and new entrants to market. Even though the marketer has no direct control over the macro external environment, a greater understanding and awareness of these changing market conditions can be achieved through external analysis. External analysis will help identify future events, uncover possible threats and realise potential opportunities.
he Marketing Research System
Marketing managers often commission formal marketing studies of specific problems and opportunities. They may request a market survey, a product-preference test, a sales forecast by region, or an advertising evaluation. It is the job of the marketing researcher to produce insight into the customer's attitudes and buying behavior. We define marketing research as the systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation facing the company. Marketing research is now about a $16.5 billion industry globally, according to ESOMAR, the World Association of Opinion and Market Research Professionals. A company can obtain marketing research in a number of ways. Most large companies have their own marketing research departments, which often play crucial roles within the organization.
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Marketing research process is a set of six steps which defines the tasks to be accomplished in conducting a marketing research study. These include problem definition, developing an approach to problem, research design formulation, field work, data preparation and analysis, and report generation and presentation. [1]
Stages of marketing research process
Step 1: Problem Definition The first step in any marketing research project is to define the problem. In defining the problem, the researcher should take into account the purpose of the study, the relevant background information, what information is needed, and how it will be used in decision making. Problem definition involves discussion with the decision makers, interviews with industry experts, analysis of secondary data, and, perhaps, some qualitative research, such as focus groups. Once the problem has been precisely defined, the research can be designed and conducted properly.[2] Step 2: Development of an Approach to the Problem Development of an approach to the problem includes formulating an objective or theoretical framework, analytical models, research questions, hypotheses, and identifying characteristics or factors that can influence the research design. This process is guided by discussions with
management and industry experts, case studies and simulations, analysis of secondary data, qualitative research and pragmatic considerations. [2] 'Step 3: Research Design Formulation' A research design is a framework or blueprint for conducting the marketing research project. It details the procedures necessary for obtaining the required information, and its purpose is to design a study that will test the hypotheses of interest, determine possible answers to the research questions, and provide the information needed for decision making. Conducting exploratory research, precisely defining the variables, and designing appropriate scales to measure them are also a part of the research design. The issue of how the data should be obtained from the respondents (for example, by conducting a survey or an experiment) must be addressed. It is also necessary to design a questionnaire and a sampling plan to select respondents for the study. More formally, formulating the research design involves the following steps [1]:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Secondary data analysis Qualitative research Methods of collecting quantitative data (survey, observation, and experimentation) Definition of the information needed Measurement and scaling procedures Questionnaire design Sampling process and sample size Plan of data analysis
Step 4: Field Work or Data Collection Data collection involves a field force or staff that operates either in the field, as in the case of personal interviewing (in-home, mall intercept, or computer-assisted personal interviewing), from an office by telephone (telephone or computer-assisted telephone interviewing), or through mail (traditional mail and mail panel surveys with prerecruited households). Proper selection, training, supervision, and evaluation of the field force helps minimize data-collection errors. Step 5: Data Preparation and Analysis Data preparation includes the editing, coding, transcription, and verification of data. Each questionnaire or observation form is inspected, or edited, and, if necessary, corrected. Number or letter codes are assigned to represent each response to each question in the questionnaire. The data from the questionnaires are transcribed or key-punched on to magnetic tape, or disks or input directly into the computer. Verification ensures that the data from the original questionnaires have been accurately transcribed, while data analysis, guided by the plan of data analysis, gives meaning to the data that have been collected. Univariate techniques are used for analyzing data when there is a single measurement of each element or unit in the sample, or, if there are several measurements of each element, each RCH variable is analyzed in isolation. On the other hand, multivariate techniques are used for analyzing data when there are two or more measurements on each element and the variables are analyzed simultaneously. [2]
Step 6: Report Preparation and Presentation The entire project should be documented in a written report which addresses the specific research questions identified, describes the approach, the research design, data collection, and data analysis procedures adopted, and presents the results and the major findings. The findings should be presented in a comprehensible format so that they can be readily used in the decision making process. In addition, an oral presentation should be made to management using tables, figures, and graphs to enhance clarity and impact. [2] For these reasons, interviews with experts are more useful in conducting marketing research for industrial firms and for products of a technical nature, where it is relatively easy to identify and approach the experts. This method is also helpful in situations where little information is available from other sources, as in the case of radically new products.
[edit] Secondary data analysis
Secondary data are data collected for some purpose other than the problem at hand. Primary data, on the other hand, are originated by the researcher for the specific purpose of addressing the research problem. Secondary data include information made available by business and government sources, commercial marketing research firms, and computerized databases. Secondary data are an economical and quick source of background information. Analysis of available secondary data is an essential step in the problem definition process: primary data should not be collected until the available secondary data have been fully analyzed.
[edit] Qualitative research
Information, industry experts, and secondary data may not be sufficient to define the research problem. Sometimes qualitative research must be undertaken to gain a qualitative understanding of the problem and its underlying factors. Qualitative research is unstructured, exploratory in nature, based on small samples, and may utilize popular qualitative techniques such as focus groups (group interviews), word association (asking respondents to indicate their first responses to stimulus words), and depth interviews (one-on-one interviews which probe the respondents' thoughts in detail). Other exploratory research techniques, such as pilot surveys with small samples of respondents, may also be undertaken
Steps to Planning a Productive and Successful Promotional Campaign
Outcome 1: Your promotional message reaches your intended and targeted audience. Outcome 2: Your message is understood by your audience. Outcome 3: Your message stimulates the recipients and they take action.
The question is how do you achieve these outcomes with your campaign? The process is easy, but it takes "planning" time. Here are seven steps that will get your campaign off to the right start.
Step 1: Assess Marketing Communication Opportunities. It's important in this first step to examine and understand the needs of your target market. Who is your message going out to? Current users, influencers among individuals, decision-makers, groups, or the general public? Step 2: What Communication Channels Will You Use? In the first step of planning you should have defined the markets, products, and environments. This information will assist you in deciding which communication channels will be most beneficial. Will you use personal communication channels such as face to face meeting, telephone contact, or perhaps a personal sales presentation? Or will the nonpersonal communication such as newspapers, magazines, or direct mail work better? Step 3: Determine Your Objectives Keep in mind that your objectives in a promotional campaign are slightly different from your marketing campaign. Promotional objectives should be stated in terms of long or short-term behaviors by people who have been exposed to your promotional communication. These objectives must be clearly stated, measurable, and appropriate to the phase of market development. Step 4: Determine Your Promotion Mix This is where you will need to allocate resources among sales promotion, advertising, publicity, and of course personal selling. Don't skimp on either of these areas. You must create an awareness among your buyers in order for your promotional campaign to succeed. A well rounded promotion will use all these methods in some capacity. Step 5: Develop Your Promotional Message This is the time that you will need to sit down with your team and focus on the content, appeal, structure, format, and source of the message. Keep in mind in promotional campaigns appeal and execution always work together. Step 6: Develop the Promotion Budget This is the exciting part. You must now determine the total promotion budget. This involves determining cost breakdowns per territory and promotional mix elements. Take some time to break down allocations and determine the affordability, percent of sales, and competitive parity. By breaking down these costs you will get a better idea on gauging the success potential of your campaign. Step 7: Determine Campaign Effectiveness After marketing communications are assigned, the promotional plan must be formal defined in a written document. In this document you should include situation analysis, copy platform, timetables for effective integration of promotional elements with elements in your marketing mix. You will also need to determine how you will measure the effectiveness once it is implement. How did the actual performance measure up to planned objectives. You'll need to gather this information by asking your target market whether they recognized or recall specific advertising messages, what they remember
about the message, how they felt about the message, and if their attitudes toward the company was affected by the message.
Goal setting in business
In business, goal setting encourages participants to put in substantial effort. Also, because every member has defined expectations for their role, little room is left for inadequate effort to go unnoticed. Managers cannot constantly drive motivation, or keep track of an employees work on a continuous basis. Goals are therefore an important tool for managers, since goals have the ability to function as a self-regulatory mechanism that acquires an employee a certain amount of guidance Shalley, 1995[3] and Locke and Latham (2002)[4] have distilled four mechanisms through which goal setting can affect individual performance:
1. Goals focus attention towards goal-relevant activities and away from goal-irrelevant activities. 2. Goals serve as an energizer; higher goals induce greater effort while low goals induce lesser effort. 3. Goals affect persistence; constraints with regard to resources affect work pace.
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Goals activate cognitive knowledge and strategies that help employees cope with the situation at hand.
Consumer behavior
Process decision making
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. problem recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, purchase decision, and post-purchase behavior.
Models of buyer decision making
Making a few last minute decisions before purchasing a gold necklace from a Navy Exchange vendor
In an early study of the buyer decision process literature, Frank Nicosia (Nicosia, F. 1966; pp 921) identified three types of buyer decision making models. They are the univariate model (He called it the "simple scheme".) in which only one behavioural determinant was allowed in a stimulus-response type of relationship; the multi-variate model (He called it a "reduced form scheme".) in which numerous independent variables were assumed to determine buyer behaviour; and finally the "system of equations" model (He called it a "structural scheme" or
"process scheme".) in which numerous functional relations (either univariate or multi-variate) interact in a complex system of equations. He concluded that only this third type of model is capable of expressing the complexity of buyer decision processes. In chapter 7, Nicosia builds a comprehensive model involving five modules. The encoding module includes determinants like "attributes of the brand", "environmental factors", "consumer's attributes", "attributes of the organization", and "attributes of the message". Other modules in the system include, consumer decoding, search and evaluation, decision, and consumption.
How does the customer use the information obtained? An important determinant of the extent of evaluation is whether the customer feels involved in the product. By involvement, we mean the degree of perceived relevance and personal importance that accompanies the choice. Where a purchase is highly involving, the customer is likely to carry out extensive evaluation. High-involvement purchases include those involving high expenditure or personal risk for example buying a house, a car or making investments. Low involvement purchases (e.g. buying a soft drink, choosing some breakfast cereals in the supermarket) have very simple evaluation processes. Why should a marketer need to understand the customer evaluation process? The answer lies in the kind of information that the marketing team needs to provide customers in different buying situations. In high-involvement decisions, the marketer needs to provide a good deal of information about the positive consequences of buying. The sales force may need to stress the important attributes
of the product, the advantages compared with the competition; and maybe even encourage trial or sampling of the product in the hope of securing the sale. Post-purchase evaluation - Cognitive Dissonance The final stage is the post-purchase evaluation of the decision. It is common for customers to experience concerns after making a purchase decision. This arises from a concept that is known as cognitive dissonance. The customer, having bought a product, may feel that an alternative would have been preferable. In these circumstances that customer will not repurchase immediately, but is likely to switch brands next time. To manage the post-purchase stage, it is the job of the marketing team to persuade the potential customer that the product will satisfy his or her needs. Then after having made a purchase, the customer should be encouraged that he or she has made the right decision.
The marketing process
Marketing process
Analysis of current situation Before developing any given marketing strategy it is important to conduct some form of analysis. This should form an essential part of any business or marketing plan and should be reviewed over time to ensure that it is kept current. Many of my clients often ask me what factors are important when doing this. The following is just a raw marketing 101 introduction to what to take into account when conducting an analysis and provides a checklist if you will of the most important factors to take into account. The elements worth considering include:
Product Situation What is my current product? You may want to break this definition up into parts such as the core product and any secondary or supporting services or products that also make up what you sell. It is important to observe this in terms of its different parts in order to be able to relate this back to core client needs. Feel free to also discuss here which of your clients needs your product is meeting.
Competitive situation Analyze your main competitors who are they what are they up to how do they compare feature/ benefit analysis. What are their competitive advantages?
Distribution Situation Review your distribution Situation how are you getting your product to market? Do you need to go through distributors or other intermediaries?
Environmental factors What external and internal environmental factors are there that need to be taken into account. This can include economic or sociological factors that impact on your performance.
Opportunity and issue analysis Which requires conduction a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity and Threats). Things to write down her are what current opportunities that are available in the market, the main threats that business is facing and may face in the future, the strengths that the business can rely on and any weaknesses that may effect the business performance.
I know for most of you marketing gurus this may be simple knowledge however it is important to realise that sometimes even the smartest forget the core fundamentals.
ypes of Consumer Purchase Decisions
Consumers are faced with purchase decisions nearly every day. But not all decisions are treated the same. Some decisions are more complex than others and thus require more effort by the consumer. Other decisions are fairly routine and require little effort. In general, consumers face four types of purchase decisions:
Minor New Purchase these purchases represent something new to a consumer but in the customers mind is not a very important purchase in terms of need, money or other reason (e.g., status within a group). Minor Re-Purchase these are the most routine of all purchases and often the consumer returns to purchase the same product without giving much thought to other product options (i.e., consumer is brand loyalty). Major New Purchase these purchases are the most difficult of all purchases because the product being purchased is important to the consumer but the consumer has little or no previous experience making these decisions. The consumers lack of confidence in making this type of decision often (but not always) requires the consumer to engage in an extensive decision-making process.. Major Re-Purchase - these purchase decisions are also important to the consumer but the consumer feels confident in making these decisions since they have previous experience purchasing the product.
For marketers it is important to understand how consumers treat the purchase decisions they face. If a company is targeting customers who feel a purchase decision is difficult (i.e., Major New Purchase), their marketing strategy may vary greatly from a company targeting customers who view the purchase decision as routine. In fact, the same company may face both situations at the same time; for some the product is new, while other customers see the purchase as routine. The implication of buying behavior for marketers is that different buying situations require different marketing efforts.
marketing mix
History
The term "marketing mix" was coined in 1953 by Neil Borden in his American Marketing Association presidential address. However, this was actually a reformulation of an earlier idea by his associate, James Culliton, who in 1948 described the role of the marketing manager as a "mixer of ingredients", who sometimes follows recipes prepared by others, sometimes prepares his own recipe as he goes along, sometimes adapts a recipe from immediately available ingredients, and at other times invents new ingredients no one else has tried. The term became popular in the article written by Neil Borden called The Concept of the Marketing Mix. He started teaching the term after he learned about it with an associate. [2] The prominent marketer, E. Jerome McCarthy, proposed a Four P classification in 1960, which has seen wide use.
[edit] Four 'P's
Elements of the marketing mix are often referred to as the "Four 'P's", a phrase used since the 1960's
Product - It is a tangible good or an intangible service that is mass produced or manufactured on a large scale with a specific volume of units. Intangible products are service based like the tourism industry & the hotel industry or codes-based products like cellphone load and credits. Typical examples of a mass produced tangible object are the motor car and the disposable razor. A less obvious but ubiquitous mass produced service is a computer operating system. Packaging also needs to be taken into consideration. Every product is subject to a life-cycle including a growth phase followed by an eventual period of decline as the product approaches market saturation. To retain its competitiveness in the market, product differentiation is required and is one of the strategies to differentiate a product from its competitors. Price The price is the amount a customer pays for the product. The business may increase or decrease the price of product if other stores have the same product. Promotion represents all of the communications that a marketer may use in the marketplace. Promotion has four distinct elements: advertising, public relations, personal selling and sales promotion. A certain amount of crossover occurs when promotion uses the four principal elements together, which is common in film promotion. Advertising covers any communication that is paid for, from cinema commercials, radio and Internet adverts through print media and billboards. Public relations are where the communication is not directly paid for and includes press releases, sponsorship deals, exhibitions, conferences, seminars or trade fairs and events. Word of mouth is any apparently informal communication about the product by ordinary individuals, satisfied customers or people specifically engaged to create word of mouth momentum. Sales staff often plays an important role in word of mouth and Public Relations (see Product above).
Placement A way of getting the product to the consumer and/or how easily accessible it is to consumers.
[edit] Four 'C's
Robert F. Lauterborn proposed a four Cs classification in 1993.[3] The Four Cs model is more consumer-oriented and attempts to better fit the movement from mass marketing to niche marketing.
Product part of the Four Ps model is replaced by Consumer or Consumer Models, shifting the focus to satisfying the consumer needs. Another C replacement for Product is Capable. By defining offerings as individual capabilities that when combined and focused to a specific industry, creates a custom solution rather than pigeon-holing a customer into a product. Pricing is replaced by Cost reflecting the total cost of ownership. Many factors affect Cost, including but not limited to the customer's cost to change or implement the new product or service and the customer's cost for not selecting a competitor's product or service. Promotions feature is replaced by Communication which represents a broader focus than simply Promotions. Communications can include advertising, public relations, personal selling, viral advertising, and any form of communication between the firm and the consumer. Placement is replaced by Convenience. With the rise of internet and hybrid models of purchasing, Place is becoming less relevant. Convenience takes into account the ease of buying the product, finding the product, finding information about the product, and several other factors.
